Although these animals look cute, they are a lot tougher than humans. Not only can they survive extreme heat and cold, they can survive in space for 10 days and only die at radiation hundreds of times higher than humans can handle. In such circumstances, they go into a state called cryobiosis where their metabolism drops to less than 0.01% and they can survive so much more. When these conditions are over, they return to their normal state and live on.
Content
- The water bug
- Extreme conditions
- Cryobiosis
- Into space
- Extremophiles
- Reproduction
The water bug
The water bear, bear animal or moss bear (Tardigrada) is a tribe of animals that live in the water, they belong to the super tribe Ecdysozoa. These eight-legged creatures were first discovered by the German Pastor Johann August Ephraim Goeze. Only three years later the animal got its name: Tardigrada, which means slow runner. The animals appeared on Earth 530 million years ago, so they have been around longer than dinosaurs. Today more than 1150 different types of bear animals have been described.
Usually adult water bugs are about 0.5-1 mm in size and a bit squat. They cannot be seen with the naked eye, but they can easily be viewed through a microscope with a low magnification. Their eight legs are small and claws. Their hind legs are fixed behind the last segment of their body, the other six legs are on the side and provide for walking. The animals are mainly found in (crust) moss, but they can also be found in dunes, beaches, sedimented water and soil. They feed by eating plant cells, algae and small invertebrates. The animal can live up to a year under normal circumstances (excluding cryobiosis).
Extreme conditions
Although you might not say it, this animal can handle extreme conditions. Several tests have been conducted to see what this creature is capable of, all equally amazing. They can handle enormous cold around absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius), but also enormous heat to the boiling point. They can withstand extremely high pressures found in the deepest part of the ocean, but they can also withstand the vacuum in space. In addition, they can handle radiation that is a hundred times higher than what humans can handle.
They can go without food for more than 10 years and dry out until they consist of only 3% water. When the animal is dehydrated it will end up in a state called cryobiosis, also known as suspended animation. 200 years later, give the animal some water again and it will come back to life.
Cryobiosis
The cryobiotic is a state of an animal in which it reacts to adverse conditions such as freezing. In this state, all metabolic processes stop so that reproduction, development and repair does not take place. The boar’s metabolism drops to less than 0.01% of normal. In this state, the bear animal can handle all extreme conditions such as temperature, radiation and pressure. When conditions return to normal, the bear returns to its original metabolic state.
Into space
As mentioned earlier, bear animals can withstand the vacuum of space. In 2007, an experiment was conducted to see if these tiny creatures could survive in space. They could do this for 10 days. It wasn’t the cold or the vacuum that killed her. After 10 days they died from the extreme radiation in space. Even though aliens have not been proven, a creature like the bear could well be housed on another planet with more extreme conditions than Earth.
Extremophiles
Animals are called extremophiles if they can survive in extreme conditions. There are some other organisms that can also handle such extreme conditions, but often these are smaller organisms such as fungi and bacteria. No extremophilic organism is as evolved as the bear.
Reproduction
Bears can reproduce sexually as well as asexually. The latter happens most often, the female’s egg contains the entire genome, so it is not necessary to be fertilized. The creature only reproduces when conditions allow it. They prefer to do this at room temperature, and water must be present. Tardigrada can also lay eggs, 1 to 30 at a time, hatching after 5 to 14 days. Often these eggs are round, but they can also have other shapes. When the eggs hatch, adult cells hatch. This means that the cells do not divide, but only increase in size. The boars can molt about 12 times, giving them new cells.